What a weekend! We left around 12 noon Friday to go to Kalamazoo. We arrived around 3:00 pm and headed straight to Kathy's house to see the little people. Matthew is still slightly (and I mean every so slightly) shorter than me. At 12, he is growing up so fast it is unbelievable. And Jacob? When did he grow so big? I can't believe the girls are going to be 4 years old next month. They are all growing so fast that it is not fair. We visited together for about an hour or so on Friday until Kathy had to make dinner and go to work. We went to the hotel right after that to check in and get some dinner. We had made reservations on hotels.com for our hotel. On the website it said the hotel had an indoor pool and a restaurant. Unfortunately, the website was wrong, the restaurant was in the hotel across the parking lot. Now, for most people, a walk across the parking lot is a piece of cake, well for me, it was a long walk. Not so bad on the way there, but very bad on the way back. We had a quiet dinner, we were the only two in the restaurant. They were very nice because I asked for them to grill Mom a piece of chicken and mash a potato for her. They did! It wasn't on the menu and it was really nice of them to make that for her. She didn't eat much of it, but I appreciated it anyways. I had fish and chips. They were pretty good, not as good as the little cafe up the street from us, but good nonetheless. After that, Mom and I went back to the hotel room and watched a bit of TV before bed. We watched a new show for us, "Say Yes to the Dress" on TLC, it was really interesting to watch brides pick their wedding dresses. Both Mom and I really enjoyed it.

On Saturday we got up early and had breakfast. Kathy and family and Laurie and family weren't expected until about 11:00 am so after breakfast I took a wee nap so that I would be fresh for the day. Kathy and family arrived first and then we went to the pool for the swimming. Laurie was running late so she came straight to the pool. I was very excited to see her as it has been 24 years (yes, years) since I have seen her. She brought her son to go swimming. All the kids and Kathy's husband, Tony, were in the pool. Mom took a little sleep while Kathy, Laurie, and I were all chatting happily away. We really enjoyed talking to each other as we had 24 years to catch up. After a bit, the kids and Tony got out of the pool and we all left. Mom and I headed to BK for lunch (not my first choice, but the restaurant was closed). Mom ate pretty well, I mean she finished all her milk and 1/2 of her cheeseburger. I didn't expect her to finish it all as she never really does, but she finished as much as she could. I finished my lunch, as usual, as I don't have the lack of appetite problem. Then we went to pick up Kathy to go to Barnes and Noble, on of both of ours favorite place. Nothing like a short visit to a book store. I only got 1 book and a new planner. It is a weekly planner which also has a place in the back for phone numbers and addresses. The one I currently have doesn't have that spot and I need it for my students' numbers and addresses. Rather important for me. I will start to use it this week. It is really pretty too. It has purple flowers on it. I bought a book that looks like it will be interesting for book club next month, unless someone else has suggestions. (I have 1 week to read the book club book for Saturday!)

After the book store we went back to Kathy's and hung out and talked and played with the kids before dinner. Kathy made Mom and I dinner and Mom ate the whole thing! It was really good, ravioli's. I gave Mom 4 to eat and she ate them all. I was really impressed with her. Then we went back to the hotel for more swimming. This time we didn't have the pool to ourselves, but that was okay. Tony and the kids still had a good time. Kathy and I chatted away as we watched the kids swim. Alicia and Samantha seemed to really like swimming. They are taking swimming lessons every week. They seem to enjoy it. Alicia was really swimming around like there was no tomorrow. Samantha seemed to enjoy swimming with Tony more than anything. Both were really cute and adorable. Matthew and Jacob swam and played together. I really enjoyed watching all the kids swimming. After about 1 1/2 hours, it was time to get out of the pool and for the Heyart family to go home. Mom and I were planning on spending time with Kathy and family on Sunday morning and early afternoon, but several big thunderstorms were predicted that afternoon so we cancelled those plans and planned to leave in the morning to come home. I didn't want to drive in storms with Mom in the car. She gets really nervous with bad weather and I didn't want to have to deal with that. I haven't driven with Mom in bad weather for about 2 years and she is so nervous now as it is, that I just haven't had the need to. I don't take her anywhere in a car in bad weather if I can help it.

We got home about 1 pm. I took a bit of a nap until my cousin, Maia, came over to drop off some stuff for storage. She and Mark stopped by in the afternoon for a few minutes. She just moved into a new house and Mark has some stuff he is giving her for her new house so she is storing it in our garage for a few weeks. Not a problem for us, we don't use the garage for much except for storage these days. Yes, someday it would be nice for my little car to be in the garage for the winter, but hey, if it doesn't happen, oh well, the little car will be just fine.

Mom is doing much better these days, she is perked more and even teasing now. She hasn't shown her sense of humor in about 8 months. It is truly wonderful. Her color is better and she has more energy now. This new high protein diet is really improving her a lot. I am quite happy with what is happening to her. Physical therapy seems to be helping her too. Her sore is getting better. We are putting cream on it all the time to keep it dry, but the protein is helping it heal. Overall, it is very good. I even had to ask her to be quiet so I could sleep when I wanted to take my nap! She was so chatty! It was the so good, but I was so tired and needed to get some sleep.

Overall, it was a great mini vacation. We really needed to get away. I am so glad we were able to go.

I can't wait to see Kathy and family and Laurie and family!!! i will see Kathy and family today and tomorrow and probably Sunday!!! I will see Laurie and family tomorrow!!! I am so excited!!!!! Can you tell by the exclamation points!!!!!!!!!!!

So far it is a good day, not much pain. I woke early which is unusual for me, but it isn't bad!!!

It is now storming out. From hot and humid to a storm, such a typical Michigan July afternoon. I don't mind the storms when I am inside and not trying to sleep. It isn't too bad where we are, but south of us in Detroit is pretty bad. We are supposed to be getting more after this one. They should be over by the time we go to bed which I think will be early since I am tired and we are getting up early tomorrow.

I forgot to get the book club book again today. I will have to do that before next week. I wonder if we should change the date of book club because Aggie will be absent. It will only be Maggie and I. Hm, I am not sure. I think I will call Maggie and ask her opinion.

We had a good day today. We started off the day with an early phone call from the big brother, Richard. I received a business letter about the store yesterday that needs to go to our lawyer and I wanted him to know all about it. I don't what made him think I would be awake at that time. I am not a morning person. Anyways, he is working this week and he had time to call so he had to call then. I didn't really mind, I was sorta awake. Mother nature and all that. Mom was awake too. I, of course, went back to bed for an hour after I put Mom back on her bed. She just sat there for the hour that I slept or tried to sleep. We had to get up a bit early today because I had a doctor's appointment at 11am. It was with the tummy doctor, just a routine check up on my medication. I take reglan which can have some severe side effects. I have been lucky as i don't have any and never have. I hope to never have any. After that we went to Tim Horton's and saw our friend, Rosemary. Rosemary lives down the street from us. She has been our friend for years. We enjoy meeting up with her at Tim Horton's. She has some material for the Muglia girls that I will be passing to them in a couple of weeks when I see them again. I can't wait to see them, it has been several weeks.

When we got home for Tim Horton's, I put Mom in the living room for a bit of a nap. Aggie had her lesson and then we were off to the Bowman Thomlinson's house for knitting. I was able to do a few rows of knitting before the old hands starting aching. In this hot weather, my hands ache so fast. They are aching now. We had a good time as usual. Her children, Callie and Acer, were resting when we arrived. They woke up shortly after we had been there a bit. Heather is working on a baby blanket and it is so pretty. I am working on a scarf for Mom and it could be a really long time before Mom gets it from me. The red yarn matches Mom's red winter coat.

I am rather tired now. I have been up since about 8:30 which is the earliest I have been up in a long time. Mom is playing with her food and drink tonight. I have her fiddling toys right in front of you, but she is playing with the fork. I think we are heading to bed early. Heather is coming over early tomorrow to help me put the scooter in the trunk. Callie is coming with her. Acer and Granny Pat are going to the school playground to play for a while. How fun for the little guy. He is 5 and is learning to swim. Callie goes to camp next week and she is learning how to tread water. She can do it for 2 minutes now which is what she needs to do in order to go to the deep end. I can't wait to hear how camp is for her. I won't see her for 3 weeks after tomorrow. She is going to have a great time.

I have to stop now, my hands are burning now, so good night! Have a great evening!

Mom's new toys came today. They are smaller than I thought. She has been playing with them since I opened the box, those and some tissue. It is kind of amusing. Now she has 2 of them in her pockets and the others on the table. It is too cute for words.

On another front, the Paxton clan is now at war with the tiny red ants. Yup, I am. They come up between the back of the sink and the wall. Not a pretty sight. They only show up on hot days. Now, that really sucks because we will be gone for a few days soon and it is supposed to be really hot those few days. Hmm, what to do. Well I have a few suggestions I am going to try both from friends. I have sprayed some raid and I have ant traps on each side of the kitchen sink at the back and under the sink. Fortunately, I don't think Mom would try to eat them or anything. She doesn't go near the sink without me. I will also try the splenda and the baking soda/confectioner's sugar mix too. Anything to get rid of these annoying pests. I was dismayed when I saw them this morning. Ugh, was my first thought, and there were a lot of the tiny suckers. What was there, is now gone and I hope no more show up. I don't need to come home and have to fumigate the house, that would really suck. Taken over by tiny red ants. Makes my skin crawl just thinking about it. I hope to have a good handle on this now. Anymore suggestions? Just let me know. I will try them all if necessary.

The left arm is a bit sore today. Not really sure why except it is hot out today and humid and I tend to ache more during that weather. My head isn't too bad yet, but I have a feeling it will get worse as the day goes on.

I want to go to the used bookstore today. I need something new to read. I also have some laundry I have to do so I can pack when we are ready to go. I plan to do some reading while we are gone. I am bringing books for Mom to read too. She loves reading and I have some great children's books for her. I will bring her fiddling toys with us too. I also am hoping I remember to pack the camera. I have been a bit forgetful (even with a list) on these type details the last few times we went on vacation. Not a good thing if one wants to take pictures. Speaking of pictures, I will be doing that next week of the painted violins. I hope to have a few of them posted for the give away. There are about 20 or so of them.

I hope you are having a good day and that it isn't too hot for you either. Stay cool!!!!!!!!

It has been a quiet day for us. Only 1 lesson, Charlie's. He will be 16 on Friday. It is so hard to believe he will be that old. He is a junior in high school now. It just blows my mind that these students have grown up so much. I mean, Lily is now 12, Charlie is 16 (almost!), and the twins, Hannah and Natalie are 14. When did I blink? I feel like time is flying by at a super fast rate. I know I sleep through a lot of it. I can't help it. I am so tired all the time. Sometimes I feel like I miss so much out of life because I am so tired. I wish it wasn't so, but there isn't nothing I could do.

I ran into an old teacher of mine today at Tim Horton's. I ran into my band teacher, Mrs. Oset. To us, she was Miss P because she wasn't married until after I graduated. She came over to say hi and tell me she thought I was a good caregiver of Mom. What a shock that was. I was pleased though. It is nice that people say nice things to me like that. It makes me feel really good about the work I do with Mom.

Mom has been pretty easy to deal with since she came home about a month ago. She cries easily, but other than that, she doesn't do anything that is too annoying. We all have our annoying stuff that is for sure but she is pretty easy to deal with. She even lets me help her sit down now. Before she would flip because she couldn't see the seat or chair, now I can put her in it now problem. Thank goodness for small improvements. She has been eating, well, drinking her ensure pretty well. She drinks anywhere from 2 to 3 each day plus she eats a chicken breast. Her sore is improving so much that it should be gone soon.

I am very achy today and exhausted, even though it is only about 7 pm, I think I need to head for bed now. We are getting up early tomorrow because of physical therapy anyhow so we are going rather shortly.

I hope you are having a good day!!!

Wow, what a busy day!!! First the phone began to ring about 8:45 am. Now, as most of you know, I am not a morning person and to be awake at, well, 8:45 am, is generally not happening. However, I answered it in case it was important. It was important. The company that is going to do Mom's bath as soon as her Medicaid comes in, was on the phone. Her name is Crystal and she is going to help get this moving so Mom can get the chore help we need. Good thing I answered the phone. I didn't sleep much at all last night so I was sort of awake, not really, but enough to hear the phone and answer nicely. I, of course, went back to bed after that. The phone rang again at about 11:15 am, it was my friend, Donna. She wanted to know if I could take her granddaughter, Sam, to pick up her Prom dress she had being held at a local store. I didn't see a problem, so I said yes. So I got up and got both Mom and I ready and headed out to pick up Sam. As we drove it started to pour, I mean, a big downpour. When we got to the store I dropped Sam off at the door and went and parked while she ran in to get her dress. I was not getting Mom out of the car in that downpour. I didn't want to get soaked either. So a little bit later I saw her waiting at the door and went and got her. After that we went to our usual, Tim Horton's for brunch. It was fun. I also managed to drop Samantha back off at her house and be back at our house in time for Bob's lesson. He brought pictures of his vacation, they looked like they had a good time. Callie and Frank had their lessons too. Callie won't have one for the next 3 weeks because she will be at camp and then her family's vacation. She seems to be really looking forward to the camp. 2 weeks sounds like a blast and then a family vacation on top of that? Just sounds very cool. Frank has competition this week, he isn't quite ready. I am a bit worried about that. Usually at this point he is done polishing up his pieces and ready to play. However, not this time. He says he will be practicing a lot between now and Friday when he plays his first piece. I hope he does well. When he is ready, he is awesome, really really great.

Outside of the 2 downpours, the weather has been a bit humid and muggy and hot. It is supposed to stay that way for a while, unfortunately. More possible rain tomorrow and Thursday, and more hot and muggy weather for the week. Yuck. Hope this passes soon.

Two regular links to check out!!!

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/fma/fibromyalgiaaware_2009winter_v2

www.heathmattersshow.com

I seem to spend more time on the weekends sleeping than I do anything else. By the time the weekend comes around, I am exhausted and ready for a sleepathon. Yesterday was a great day, long, but a great day so I knew that today I would spend most of the time sleeping. We got up about noon, not that that is unusual. We often get up between 11 to 12 everyday depending on the physical therapy, nurse visit, or teaching schedule. We went to Tim Horton's for lunch. Mom wasn't very hungry so she didn't eat very much. This is not always surprising when it happens. Then we came home, I read for a bit while Mom was in the living room. I checked Face book and then went in the living room with her. I sat down and a few minutes later, out like a light. I slept for about 2 1/2 hours. Not the longest one I have taken in the last few weeks, but definitely a long one. Mom was awake when I woke up, just sitting quietly in her seat on the couch. I sit in the comfy chair and she sits in the couch. I need to have the arms on both sides of me for balance and comfort.

Mom ate a good dinner, she had a chicken breast that she is still working on. I left it on the table for her because she only ate 1/2, in case she wanted more. So far she has eaten a bit more of it. She so far, has drank 2 ensures in a row, so I know she was hungry even if she didn't want any food. She has started on her 3rd ensure now.

Not much happening today, as I slept most of it away. Mom is doing pretty well today. We were going to do our hair but, oops, I slept instead. We will do it tomorrow after lessons. This coming weekend is competition so I hope Frank is ready. Tomorrow is his last lesson before competition. I hope he does well, when he is on, he is very on. He is a very gifted performer.

Mom is playing with the table cloth again. Fortunately, I have the ensure bottle closed with the cap so there is no mess this time. I can't wait until the fiddle toys arrived. They should arrive this week and I hope she likes them. She can fiddle with them all she wants and no mess will be made.

It is really nice out today. We didn't get the rain that I know of, but nearby did. Not to hot, not to humid, in other words, a nice day. It is supposed to get hot again later this week. Ugh. I am glad we are staying in a hotel with an inside pool. I am not looking forward to a hot, humid day.

We had a really good day today. Really good. We were at my Uncle's house with his family. Tillie and her great grandson, Warren, were there. It was so cute to watch Jayson and Warren play together. Sometimes they would play together and other times they would play side by side or separately. No matter how, it was nice to see two very young people get along. Jayson has the cutest way of calling Mom Aunt Vivi. It was adorable. He called her that at the end of the day. Michelle sent us home with great left overs again. I just love her cooking. I think when we go back in a couple of weeks I am going to bring a treat. No, I am not going to make it, I will go to a bakery and get something summery for us to eat.

Mom did really well on the trip there and back. She does very well on the car trips so I am no longer worried about the trip to Kalamazoo next week. I am very excited about that trip. I hope to see some friends and have some nice chatting and watching the kids time. I anticipate spending a lot of time by the pool that weekend, at least Saturday day and Sunday morning and early afternoon. It should be a blast.

The bad thing about this afternoon is that I didn't bring extra disposables for Mom, bad move on my part. Tomorrow we are going to get her a cute back pack to put her disposables, fresh pants, and a fresh top in it to carry whenever we go away for the day. I will put it in my car for her. I should have known that eventually this would happen and of course, it had to happen when we weren't home. I didn't think about going to the store to get her some since it is such a small town, the selection wouldn't have been very good. I will be prepared from now on. Poor Mom, once again I failed her. A small fail, but a fail. I won't do this again that is for sure.

I hope your day was as good as ours was. It was really really good!

It is so much cooler today! Thank goodness for that! It is about 80 degrees outside with low humidity. Thank goodness for small favors. We are waiting for Mom's physical therapist to arrive. We will go to the usual after for lunch. Tomorrow we are going to my uncle's! Apparently, Tillie will be there too so that will be fun. I have to remember to bring the mail to her. Maia will pick up her mail on Monday when she is here to clean. We are watching "Who's the Boss". I haven't seen this in years. We are just hanging out today. I might go and get a Christmas craft out ready to do. I have to get started since I have a lot I want to do. I also need to take pictures of my violins and violas for the swap and to sell. I do have things I want to do, I just end up either putting them off or I don't feel well and they don't get done. My head is almost back to its normal pain today. It is still really sore from all the beautiful (yeah, right) weather and humidity. I can't really concentrate today so I just want to get out the crafts, not start them. I don't like to redo stuff because I messed up. I have some sewing this week I want to do too. I have to finish Natalie's skirt and Sarah's skirt. They are almost done and won't take much to finish. I am hoping that on Sunday I will be feeling much better, tomorrow too. Nothing is worse than visiting with family and having a bad headache, not a recommended thing to do, so it better be much better.

I hope your day is going well.

It is really hot and humid out again today. Although, the humidity isn't as bad as anticipated. It has been worse. Mom and I are hiding inside mostly today. I did have to go out to get her some ensure with high protein since we were out, but other than that we are staying in. Mainly we are staying in because I have a really bad headache. It started yesterday, went down to normal, then popped up again this morning. Ugh, I really hate this weather. I am a spring and fall girl. Those are my favorite seasons. Summer and Winter are not good for me, too much pain at times, and too hot or too cold at other times. Mom is doing pretty well today despite the heat. She did alright when we went to the store. She held my hand as I scooted along as usual. We ended up with a few more things than what was on my list. We had to get a new colander for the kitchen as ours has disappeared along with the two strainers for pots. I have no idea where they went and they don't make them anymore, so that just sucks badly. They were tools I used all the time, so easy to strain vegetables, noodles, and stuff like that and now they are gone. I have been looking for them for about a month now and can't find them anywhere. I really need them so I had to buy a strainer type thing that will sort of do the job, not as good as my other tools, but they will kind of work. I bought the biggest one they had so it will help.

Mom just lost my place in my book. Fortunately, I found it again. I forgot how she plays with them. I usually memorize the page number because she pulls out the bookmark all the time. She just fiddles with stuff and I don't know how to keep her hands busy with something productive because she can't concentrate on much anymore. She can't knit, I tried that. She really can't sew anymore or cross stitch, tried those too. It is difficult to find ways to keep her hands busy. Sometimes it bothers me, other times it doesn't. Since she can't really help it, I have been working on it not bothering me. She also plays with the table cloth a lot and the Kleenex box. Those things don't bother me unless she is ripping the Kleenex box, then that bothers me because I need the box in one piece not several. I have tried to get her to fold washcloths and put them in a basket but that doesn't work with her so I gave up and just let her fiddle with stuff. I keep magazines on the table just for that purpose now. I put them in a small pile in the middle of the table so she can fiddle all she wants now.

It is going to rain today, supposedly. I certainly hope so, that will hopefully cut down on the heat. Tomorrow is supposed to be really nice out. Only 82 degrees with low humidity and low heat index. Saturday we are going to my Uncle's and it is supposed to be nice out then too. He is going on vacation on Sunday for a week. That should be a lot of fun. We are going on vacation in a few too, can't wait for that!

I was planning on going into the family room and dig out some Christmas crafts the other night. I haven't done it yet. I need to get started because I want to hand make all the Christmas presents next year. I love making ornaments. They are so much fun. I want to make a set for my niece and nephew and Mom. Mom loves homemade presents best. Or at least she used too, don't know if she still does because she doesn't know anymore. I got some really cute kits last summer to make and I haven't finished them yet. Yes, I need to get my butt moving on them.

This week I also plan to take pictures of the painted violins and viola. In August I am going to have a give away of one of them. I have about 20 left that I painted when we had the music store. They do work and everything. Fresh strings and well, at the time they were done, they were in tune, although I highly doubt they are in tune now. Anyways, this fall my plan is to sell the rest of them so that they are out of my family room and into (hopefully) some nice persons' home that will enjoy them. They can be played or just for decoration. I plan to send one to my friend in Ohio, but I keep forgetting to have her measure her daughter's arm so I can send the right size, if I have it. There is one in particular my other friend's son likes to play. It is so cute to watch him, although I don't get a big chance because it keeps him busy while I am having a lesson with his sister. Both are very musically inclined children, extremely talented. Not that I am biased or anything, they really are. I have had the opportunity to work with many talented children over the years, and they are really gifted. The young gentleman will start lessons this fall too, so that will be even more fun for us here in this household. Mom really likes listening to the students during their lessons. She always had. I am glad she still finds some things enjoyable. Just because a person has Alzheimer's or Vascular Dementia (her official diagnose) doesn't mean they don't like or dislike things. And music is one thing she has always enjoyed.

I hope you are having a good day, despite the bad headache, it hasn't been too bad except I had to cancel knitting today. My head is just too bad for that. :( I hope the weather improves where you are too as so much of us are having major heat waves. It looks like it is about to storm outside for us right now. Have a great afternoon!